The Monkey Farm - a farm of HOPE

Where Redemption Became a Destination: Our Wild, Beautiful Evolution… into the only tourist attraction in Central America that 100% of proceeds Give Back to the Community!

The Monkey Farm began in 2013 with a simple, slightly crazy idea: rescue monkeys, grow food, and live sustainably. Two adventurous volunteers from Finland and Croatia joined founder Vicki Conley, a Californian with a heart for animals and faith in God, to create a self-sustaining monkey rescue and farm. That original focus on monkeys and farming is how we got our name — The Monkey Farm — long before we ever imagined what this place would become.

Volunteers soon arrived from all over the world, helping transform a forgotten piece of land into a thriving, living farm. Food became abundant. Animals multiplied. And Vicki stayed — living on the farm, listening, watching, and following where God seemed to be leading.

When we had more than enough, we started sharing. First with weekly meals for the homeless in Playas del Coco. Then with free English classes for local adults. Then with free equine therapy for children with cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome — where we witnessed breakthroughs no one could explain away.

Everything changed in 2019, when two men from our Tuesday night homeless dinners asked for help escaping addiction and the streets. We didn’t have a program. We didn’t have funding. But we said yes.

That “yes” became a calling.

As more men came seeking change, The Monkey Farm quietly became a free, residential, faith-based addiction and trauma recovery program, modeled after Teen Challenge, the most statistically successful addiction recovery program in the world. We built on that proven foundation while integrating trauma healing, animal care, farming, and equine therapy — addressing not just addiction, but the deep wounds beneath it.

Today, the very men in recovery care for the animals, train horses, grow food, and help run the farm. Through faith, structure, responsibility, and purpose, lives are being rebuilt — often for the first time.

And here’s what makes this place truly unique:

The Monkey Farm is the only tourist attraction in Central America where 100% of proceeds give back to the community.

Every jungle walk to see monkeys in the wild, every farm tour, every horseback ride directly funds free community services and this recovery program.

We are now pursuing official certification as an addiction recovery center in Costa Rica — a milestone that would unlock resources seized from drug traffickers and redirect them toward healing lives. To get there, we must prove financial stability.

Tourism helps.
But monthly donors make it possible.

If you believe in faith-based healing, second chances, and multiplying impact far beyond a single visit, your monthly gift — of any amount — helps ensure this place of redemption continues to grow.

What started as a monkey rescue became a farm.
The farm became a community.
And the community became a place where lives are restored.

Be part of something that is changing lives, one life at a time. Become a monthly donor today.  Click the box to make a monthly donation.

The Monkey Farm is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization registered in the United States, ID #81-1664389, and also a registered NGO in Costa Rica. All donations are tax deductible.

*To Teen Challenge, the most successful program in the world, we added:
– Learning to grow your own food, including aquaponics systems
– Bonding with and caring for animals, which is very therapeutic
– Feeding the homeless weekly and public speaking; learning to preach a message of hope
– Learning to give back through community service projects, disaster relief, home repair, construction, etc.
– Trauma understanding, discovering and healing through the “ReAct” daily recovery classes
– Learning a second languange, which builds discipline and develops the cortex part of the brain
– Assisting children born with handicaps to overcome their own challenges through equine therapy
– Learning to play chess and having weekly tournaments, which builds the “thinking” part of the brain and impulse control
– Emotional equine therapy with our trained counselors to learn to process unhealed emotions
– Learning Natural Horsemanship training methods, which builds trust, patience, emotional control, confidence, discipline and purpose
– A 20-week seminar families are required to take to assist in complete healing of the family unit
– Resume building, creation and job placement assistence
– Reinsertion into society six-week program to integrate well into the community